The Brazilian Amazon "is tired of hearing about conservation, it wants wealth"

Manuel Perez Bella

São Paulo, Sep 6 (EFEverde).- The Brazilian Amazon "is tired of hearing about conservation" and wants world leaders to sit down at COP30 to discuss generating "wealth" for the rainforest's population, argues Marcello Brito, a representative of the regional governments.

"Conservation is important, but we need to discuss production," Brito, executive secretary of the Amazonia Legal Consortium, a public entity formed by the governments of the nine Amazonian states focused on promoting sustainable development, stated in an interview with EFE.

The conservation of the Amazon rainforest and the development of its 27 million inhabitants "must go hand in hand," and "if we don't understand this, we will continue to fail," warns this agricultural entrepreneur with three decades of experience in the region.

COP30 as a turning point

COP30, to be held next November in Belém, can contribute to "changing the mindset" of the private sector and also environmentalists regarding the development needs of this jungle region, Brito hopes.

The Amazon is Brazil's largest region and, at the same time, one of the poorest and most unequal. Only 29% of homes have adequate basic sanitation.

But it is also the driving force behind a thriving agricultural sector, responsible for significant soybean and livestock production, and possesses the country's largest mineral reserves. These products represent 20% of Brazilian exports.

Zero deforestation and tensions with Europe

The representative emphasizes that he advocates for "zero deforestation," in line with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's promise to eradicate illegal logging by 2030.

However, he criticizes policies such as the new European Union regulation on deforestation (EUDR), which will come into force in December and ban imports from deforested or degraded areas, which could affect Amazonian beef and agricultural products.

"I'm in favor of zero deforestation, but the way the EUDR is being implemented seems horrible to me. It's a process that is more exclusionary than transformative," says Brito, who claims to have conveyed this position to the European Commission and several European countries.

Geopolitics and opportunities

Despite these tensions, Brito remains optimistic when recalling how the trade war fueled by Donald Trump weakened some European countries' resistance to agreements with South America.

The leader points to the conclusion of the trade agreement between the European Union and Mercosur as an example of change: after 25 years of blockage, "all of a sudden" it was unblocked and now "it's interesting to them."

"Who knows if now, with this major geopolitical disruption, intelligence will return to the table and perhaps, in a transnational partnership, we will be able to create more inclusive and assertive rules," Brito concludes.

The executive secretary of the Amazonia Legal Consortium participated this Thursday as a speaker in the third edition of the Latin American Green Economy Forum, organized by the EFE Agency in São Paulo, where the challenges of the energy transition and sustainable development were discussed.

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Main photo: Marcello Brito, executive secretary of the Amazon Legal Consortium and special envoy for the COP30 for the Amazonian states, speaking at the Third Latin American Green Economy Forum (FLEV) in São Paulo, Brazil, on September 4. EFE/Isaac Fontana